When Edwards confirmed last August that he'd had an affair but denied that he was the father of Rielle Hunter's child, the admittedly small portion of the population that actually cared about this story scratched their collective heads.

After all, why would he secretly visit this woman and her baby at a Beverly Hills hotel -- and then, hilariously, get chased by nosy reporters into a bathroom, where he locked himself until security personnel could come to his rescue -- if he had no idea who the baby's father was?

Cheating Politicians

I would welcome participating in a paternity test. Be happy to participate in one. I know that it's not possible that this child could be mine because of the timing of events, so I know it's not possible. Happy to take a paternity test, and would love to see it happen.

If the report turns out to be true and Edwards does now make a statement that admits he fathered Hunter's baby, here is the amazing part: a man whose wrecked marriage and national humiliation should have proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you cannot get away with lying to the public about anything as juicy as an affair, yet somehow thought that in correcting one lie he could just tell what sounded like an even more incredible whopper.

Maybe he was trying to spare his wife and family more pain by only admitting to one difficult truth instead of two. Instead, he just gave the National Enquirer, a publication that has been nothing but aces on this tawdry story, more reason to keep digging.